Standing Up
by Protego Totalum
Summary: "I'm not leaving. I want to stay; I want to fight." One person can change everything. Theodore Nott knows that all too well. Alternate final battle; what if a Slytherin decided to fight for the light?


**Standing Up**  
>Alternate Title: Changing Things<p>

Summary: "I'm not leaving. I want to stay; I want to fight." One person can change everything. Theodore Nott knows that all too well. Alternate final battle; what if a Slytherin decided to fight for the light?

Warnings: Violence and slight AU

Pairings: Theodore/Luna, Blaise/Daphne. All others are canon.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is owned by J.K. Rowling, not me.

A/N: When Theo, Blaise, Daphne and Astoria are fighting in the battle, it's all taking place at around the same time, not different ones, so I hope I didn't screw up the battle's timeline too much!

*= Original Spell. Look to bottom for definition and meaning.

* * *

><p>"<em>Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your house could follow."<em>

Theodore David Nott listened to his Transfiguration teacher's word and felt his spirits plummet. He could tell by her tone that the last sentence was not a question nor a suggestion, but an order. No. He would not let the moment he had been waiting for years be ruining by Pansy Parkinson's stupid mouth! He _had_ to do this! He_ had_ to fight!

As the rest of his house rose to walk out of the hall and back to the stony common room, Theo rose for a different reason completely. He knew that if just one Slytherin had the guts to stand up and do what he was going to do, others would follow. He knew that three others would. And that's enough for Theo- four extra fighters could do a lot of good in a war.

The other houses stared at him, wondering why he wasn't following his peers. The Slytherins who were leaving saw their gazes and followed their eyes, finally noticing Theo standing in front of their table, an unreadable look on his face and his arms crossed. Some of the green and silver clad students felt a warm feeling of hopefulness welling in their stomachs, sending out silent prayers that the Nott boy was going to do what they wanted to, while others were just confused.

"Mr. Nott, follow your house mates to your common room." McGonagall commanded sternly.

Theodore looked her in the eyes, meeting her gaze with his own light brown eyes.

"No." He replied, sounding casual, but his insides were bouncing with anticipation. Not giving the professor a chance to respond, he continued. "I won't go with the rest of my house. I'm not leaving. I want to stay; I want to fight."

Many students gasped at this. Some because of his audacity- who would speak to McGonagall like that!- and others because he had pretty much said that he was a Death Eater! I mean, he's a Slytherin, what else could he mean by that? That he wanted to fight for the _Light?_ Ridiculous!

McGonagall was apparently thinking similar things, for eyes narrowed and her lips tightened. "Mr. Nott," she said sharply. "If you intend on fighting against us, what makes you think that I-"

"What?" Theodore said, taken aback. "I don't want to fight against you." A pause, then, "I want to fight with you."

The Great Hall exploded with noise from teachers and students alike. Some people of shock, some because they didn't believe him and some- mainly Slytherins- because they were furious about his betrayal. Everyone now knew that his father was a Death Eater- none hid which side they're on anymore, not after the Dark Lord overtook the ministry- and they either couldn't believe that an Inner Circle member's son was on the Light side or the actually _didn't_ believe it.

A few people though, did not join the noise. Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood, Blaise Zabini and Daphne and Astoria Greengrass were silent staring at Theodore with either calculating or happy expressions.

Over the noise, one of these people yelled out, "QUIET!"

Everyone turned, looking at the emerald eyed boy and the Hall fell silent once more. Harry Potter continued, "You're Theodore Nott, right?" He received a nod as an answer. "I remember you. You and your friends never insulted people for their blood status and you weren't as… unpleasant as most Slytherins." He paused, furrowing his eyebrows. "I want to believe you, I do… but I need to know for sure. I can't have be the one to say 'alright, you can stay,' only to have you turn on us in the middle of the battle. I need proof. How do I know you aren't lying?"

People turned to Theodore, waiting for his response. "Fair enough," he nodded. "Does anyone here know Legilimency?" Getting only shaking heads and murmured 'no's, he sighed and took a seat on the bench of the Slytherin table. "Then this is going to be a fairly long story. I suggest those who were sitting take a seat again."

Wearily, the students and staff followed his instructions and most Slytherins walked back to their table. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkison and some others only rolled their eyes and remained standing, looking at Theo expectantly, though Malfoy looked like he wanted nothing more than to go sit at the table for what he knew might be the last time. Daphne and Astoria sat on either side of Theodore while Blaise sat next to Daphne, all knowing what Theo was about to say seeing as they had forced him to tell them in fifth year, after a certain Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

Theodore cleared his throat and began telling everyone_, everyone_, things that he had wanted to keep secret forever. "Does everyone who took Care of Magical Creatures in fifth year remember the lesson on Thestrals?" He received nods from those who were there and confused looks from those who didn't know what Thestrals were. "For those who don't know, Thestrals are a black, horse-like creature who can only be seen by those who have seen death." Some tensed, not liking where this was going. "We had a lesson on them and only a few people could see them, one of whom being me.

"You all know that my father is a Death Eater. Well, until I was nine, I didn't, nor did my mother. He kept it from us- since he was one of the few not caught after Voldemort-" Cue mass flinch. "-fell in 1981, no one suspected him and it was easy to hide it with a few glamours on his arm. But one day, he forgot the glamours. My mother saw it and was horrified. She was a former Ravenclaw and one of her best friends was a Muggleborn; she couldn't stand Voldemort-" Flinch. "-or his views on blood status.

"This spun a shouting match between my parents, arguing about everything. It started about blood status and Death Eaters and ended on his treatment of- of me." He faltered slightly before continuing. "My father had never been that… loving. He had never hit me, but he had never really cared either. My mother did and she told him that she was leaving and that she was taking me with her. She picked me up and started to leaving, blatantly ignoring my father's screaming for her to stop and his threats. She thought he was bluffing, but… He wasn't."

He closed his eyes tightly and forced the tears back. "Before I knew what was happening, my father had his wand out and a… a green light was coming right at us." Everyone in the hall was dead silent, listening with rapt attention, shocked that this had actually happened to a nine year old boy. "Then I was on the ground, tumbling out of my mother's arms and staring at her body."

He chocked slightly and Daphne put a comforting arm around him, to which he leaned into. He took a deep, shuttering breath before sitting up straight and continuing. "He got away with it. He had friends in the Ministry and he managed to get away with it." Everyone could hear the pure hated that was laced into his voice and_ that _was what caused them to know that this was the truth- that this horror story was no lie.

"That's why I can see Thestrals, if you hadn't realized." He paused, trying to get back on track. "After people came and took away my mother's body, I was interrogated by aurors. I wanted so badly to tell them the truth, but my father caught my eye and the look on his face…" He shuttered. "I didn't tell them. That was probably the biggest mistake of my life.

"After the aurors left, deeming it a tragic accident, my father turned to me. Told me never to tell anyone what had happened. That if I did, I'd be joining my mother. Then, he gave me a… a taste of what he'd do if I told." He raised his left hand, tracing a scar on his face. No one had ever really looked at him before- never saw it. Now that they did, they were shocked that they hadn't noticed it before.

It ran from the upper left of his left eyebrow, running down the side of his face to the bottom if his neck, half hidden by his shaggy, light brown hair. To those who had noticed it and asked where he got it, he always responded simply 'I was a clumsy child.' And they always believed him.

"He rarely did anything to me after that, thinking that I'd be less likely to tell if I wasn't treated horribly, but when he was angry at something or someone, I was always conveniently there to take the penalty for it. I got a bit better when I was sorted into Slytherin- which is mostly because Slytherins are better at keeping secrets, according to the hat- but when Voldemort-" Most people were too entranced with the story to notice his use of the name, and only a few flinched- "-rose again… It got bad again.

"Father always told me to join him and whenever I missed an opportunity to do so, I was punished. But the thing is_: I don't want to join him_. I never did, never will. I hate what He does and what he stands for; death, torture, pain and suffering- I hate all those things. I don't know who in their right mind enjoys them. And after my mother's death- her murder… It convinced me never to join him. Never."

He brought his eyes up to meet Harry's and a moment of silence passed before he said, "I told Daph, Blaise and Tori in fifth year. All of this. They agree with me about how horrible he is and we said that we'd join the Light as soon as we could, but we never got an opportunity. Now we do."

He rose to his feet and stared at The Boy Who Lived. "So… Is that proof enough?" He questioned.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, most Slytherins had left and Theo, Daphne, Astoria and Blaise were seated at the Slytherin table alone, with an odd addition of a Ravenclaw.<p>

Luna Lovegood had come over and hugged Theodore soon after Harry had told them to stay, which shocked the Slytherin boy. Slowing, he had hugged back and when the embrace ended, she had sat with them and discussed what they planned to do if the Light side won the war. Though they had just met, Theodore had to admit that he liked Luna very much. Her weird and loony attitude was a breath of fresh air!

They had listened to McGonagall's speech and knew that they had to fight soon, but just wanted some last few minutes to talk; to pretend to be normal.

The plan was this: as soon as they heard the Death Eaters enter the castle, they fight. Take down as many as they could and avoid hitting the good guys. Not much of a plan, but it was something, right?

Their conversation shifted from what they would do after the war to what they would do to fight; ideas on how to take down Death Eaters. Everyone gave ideas in turn and a few other students drifted over to discuss their plans as well. Soon, it was Theo's turn to give his ideas.

"You guys all have great ideas, but I…" he said hesitantly. "I'm going after my father. I need to stop him. He's good- too good for any of the students to take down. I would know. I've seen him fight; I know his style. I've been training for this. He thought it was for when I join the Death Eaters and he never bothered to watch me. I think I'm just as good as him, if not better. I need to do this."

The others understood and the boy across from Theodore started giving his ideas. A few others had given their thoughts before a loud bang cut Neville Longbotton off.

The Death Eaters were here.

The battle had begun

Theodore ran through the halls, passing fallen comrades and enemies without a second thought.

'_Find him. Find him, find him, findhimfindhim.' _He needed to do this. He had been planning to do this for Merlin knows how long. He knows it will hurt him to do it, but… He needed to avenge his mother. Avenge his lost childhood.

A foul, low laugh assaulted his ears as he turned the corner. He paused, knowing from hearing that sort of laugh before that it meant nothing good. He looked up the mostly abandoned corridor and saw Antonin Dolohov, a Death Eater and friend of his father's, pointing his wand at Professor Lupin, who was leaning against a windowsill and clutching his wrist, his wand laying a few meters away.

'_Well, if I can't find father, I may as well take care of his friend.' _Theo thought darkly.

He raised his wand-_' 11½ inches, rowan, Thestral hair core,' _he thought absently- and aimed it at Dolohov. "_Stupefy!_" The boy called.

A red beam of light went flying towards the Death Eater and Theodore smirked at the look of shock on his face as he turned to see who had yelled, his eyes widening and his mouth gaping, split seconds before the spell hit him and he crumpled to the floor.

As he hit the floor, Theo rushed to his fallen professor and asked him, "Are you alright- stupid question, of course not! Where are you hurt."

Lupin raised his right hand and Theodore saw that the bone in his wrist had twisted slightly. He raised his own wand again, pointing at it and muttering, _"Episkey_."

Lupin winced slightly as the bone popped back into place and Theo silently applauded him on his pain tolerance; most people would have at least yelped.

"There. You should be fine now; go kick some Death Eater arse." He smiled.

Lupin nodded, giving him a small smile. "Thank you." He paused, looking thoughtful. "I remember you, you know. From third year. Your boggart was darkness. At first, I thought that you were just afraid of the dark, but I understand now. It was a symbol; a representation of the world if Voldemort won, wasn't it?"

Theo stared at him and nodded slowly, surprised by his perceptiveness.

Lupin rose, standing only slightly higher than Theodore. Theodore wished him luck in the battle once more and turned to go. He had only taken a few steps when a soft voice interrupted him.

"My son's name is Theodore as well."

Theo turned slightly, staring into amber eyes. "Really?" He asked faintly.

Remus nodded. "We- his mother and I- shortened it to Teddy, but yes."

Theodore nodded, acknowledging the information and the fact that he was oddly touched by this news before continuing down the hall; continued his search for his father.

* * *

><p>Blaise Zabini walked down a hall, stunning as many Death Eaters as he could.<p>

His family had been neutral for years, but when he was young, his mother had sat him down and told him that if it ever came to a point where he had to choose a side, to choose the Light. After his talk with Theo in fifth year, he knew that it would happen eventually.

He turned a corner and stopped dead at what he saw.

The Weasleys and some of their friends were all fighting rather fantastically, but a bit behind one of the twins- he couldn't tell which- was a Death Eater, wearing an insane smile and pointing his wand at the floor by the red head's feet.

Blaise whipped his wand forward, pointing it at the Death Eater.

"_Confr-" _Th_e_ black clad man started, and some of the Weasleys looked at him, but didn't have enough time to point their wands at him.

"_Expulso!"_ Blaise yelled.

The beam of violet light collided with the Death Eater before he could finish the spell and he was thrown back, hitting his head off of the wall and falling unconscious.

The Weasleys, Harry Potter and Hermione Grangers, all of whom had now all defeated their enemies, turned to him, wanting to know who had saved Fred (not that Blaise knew exactly who it was) and were slightly shocked to see a dark skinned boy in Slytherin robes pointing his wand at where the Death Eater had been.

Fred got over it quickly, eager to thank the boy who had saved his life, and exclaimed, "Thanks for that! I might have just died if it weren't for you!"

Blaise lowered his wand and replied, "No problem, erm, Weasley Twin…."

The twin in question chuckled and said, "I'm Forge, nice to meet you!"

Blaise grinned. '_Foul blood-traitors my ass, Malfoy!'_

* * *

><p>Daphne and Astoria ran, trying to track down the source of the insane cackling and high pitched screams.<p>

They were on the fourth floor and the ground was sticky and stained red with blood, but they paid it no heed, intent on saving whoever needed saving. They both passed a closed door and skidded to a halt when they heard the screaming get louder, realizing that whoever it was that was in trouble was in this room. Daphne tried to pull the door open, but upon realizing it was locked, she turned her wand to it and said, "_Alohomora!" _

She practically ripped the door open and her and her sister rushed into the room and gasped at the bloody scene in front of them.

In the center of the room stood the infamous Bellatrix LeStrange, the source of the cackling. On the floor, writing and screeching in pain, was a slight woman with dark red hair, the color of blood and a button nose. Tonks, a Metamorphugus, they both realized. She usually had her hair pink, but with such a small difference as hair color, they could still recognize her. Bellatrix was so caught up in _Crucioing _the woman that she never even noticed them come in.

Daphne and Astoria shared a glance and nodded simultaneously. The both held up their wands, knowing that it would be stronger to cast it together, especially because they share a core- Dragon Heartstring from the same dragon- and hollered, "_Congelasco!"*_

The light blue beams hit the insane woman and he immediately froze, her skin paling and giving an illusion of being icy.

The girls rushed to Tonks, ignoring the frozen woman, knowing that she wouldn't start to unfreeze for at least twenty minutes and that it would take at least ten after that to her to regain control of her nerves and muscles.

The now pink haired woman looked at them with light blue eyes and said, "Thank you."

The girls shared another glance and Astoria put her arm around Tonks' shoulders, helping her up an into the hall, while Daphne stood in front of them, wand out, ready to stun anyone who tried to stop them from getting the woman to a safe spot.

* * *

><p>Theodore was still running, still trying to find his father. He knew that the battle was ending; the screaming had all but stopped and there were no longer flashes of light every time he turned a corner. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to find him before one of the sides won. He was also worried for his friends, none of which he had seen since the battle had started.<p>

He turned another corner, now outside, not expecting to see anything new, but he was pleasantly (well, kind of) surprised.

Sitting on the cold grass was a sixth year Gryffindor named Colin Creevey, who was staring at the Death Eater who was standing above him with a mixture of fear, hatred and defiance. But it was the Death Eater that caught Theo's attention. With shadowed black hair and cold blue eyes that were full of hatred and dark glee, Tomas Nott was the picture of 'stereotypical Death Eater'.

Seeing his father point his wand at the boy, he raised his own and said in an oddly cold, emotionless voice, _"Impendimenta!"_

The grey ray of light hit his father and pushed him into the wall, where the rest of the spell took affect and he stopped moving- for a short amount of time, Theodore knew.

He wasted no time by walking over to the sixth year and talking to him in a rushed, quiet tone, "Colin, go that way," He pointed to the right, "and go through the fourth single door that you see. Inside is a room full of protective runes, built for one to three people. Stay inside and close the door behind you- lock it. If I don't come to find you in half an hour, come out and go to the Great Hall as fast as you can, got it?"

The boy nodded and stood up, looking at Theodore gratefully before rushing in the direction Theodore had pointed. Theodore hoped he listened to his instructions.

Something hit him in the back and sent him to the ground, where he skillfully summersaulted forward, landing crouched on his toes. He kept his head down; looking at his father through his eyelashes, knowing that in the shadow of the castle, with his hair falling in his face, his father wouldn't be able to tell that it was him.

"Get up," Tomas barked. "Get up and face me like a man."

So he did. Theo stood, letting his hair fall to where it usually sat, framing his face, letting his father see the hatred and coldness in his eyes.

He reveled in the look of shock on his father's face, like that of Dolohov, only ten times better. He watched as the shock changed to comprehension- of what his son was doing and why he had been training- then to hatred. No sadness, no love and no compassion; only hatred now.

"You." It was a clear accusation, full of hatred and… fear? _'He's afraid of me.'_ Theodore realized. _'He knows how much I've been training and how much I must want revenge. That's probably the smartest thing he's ever realized.'_

"You blood traitor! You dare? How dare you betray your family?"

And this, my friends, is where Theodore snapped. "No, how dare _you! _How dare you talk to me about betrayal and family when you _murdered my mother! _You two were married and you murdered her! And what about me? I'm your flesh and blood and you hurt me! Scarred me! MURDERED MY MOTHER WHILE I WAS IN HER ARMS!" He thrust with wand forward and screamed, "_Ad Interiora Corporis Extra!*"_

"_Protega Maxima!" _A dark blue shield appeared in from of his father, blocking the dark magic. He dropped the shield and yelled, _"Crucio!"_

Theodore leapt out of the way, lunging to the left. He responded with a curse that he had invented- a deadly version of the summoning charm. _"A__dhibete __C__orde__!"*_

Tomas rolled to the side and Theo cursed under his breath. If only he had put up a shield! The spell would have gone right through!

Not giving his father time to send another spell, he sent a few others in quick succession, "_Stupefy! Confringo! Flagrante!"_

Tomas dodged the first two, but was hit by the third. He cried out as it hit his left arm, burning the flesh of his forearm. If he were to look, he would have seen that his son had chosen to cover it with a burn in the shape of a winking face.

Theodore grinned and called, "How does it feel? To have one brand covered up by another?" He had aimed the spell purposely at where he knew the Dark Mark to be, hoping that it would hit.

Tomas growled and sent out a few curses of his own, "_Digitos Incendere!_*_Avada Kedavra!_ _D__espiciat__us!*"_

Theo dropped to the ground, knowing his father had a tendency to aim high and that the Killing Curse could not be blocked. As soon as he felt the spells fly over him, he leapt up, pointing his wand at where his father stood… Only to realize that he wasn't there.

He gasped as he felt cold hands wrap around his neck and hastily stuck his wand in his robes before bringing his hands up to try to pull the chocking hands away. Realizing that he couldn't pull away the strong hands, he grabbed his wand once more.

Wordless magic had always been a skill of his, for which he was thankful for now. He transfigured the wand into a dagger and used his right hand to swing it behind him, hoping that it hit its target. His relief came and the hands let go of his throat. He fell to the ground, gasping for air and turned his head to the right.

The bleeding form of his father met his eyes. Blood was pumping out of a wound in his side and Theodore knew that the dagger-wand must have punctured something. Speaking of that… He stood up and walked to his father's left side, outstretched his arm and grabbed his wand, which had reverted to its true form.

Before he could pull his arm away, Tomas used what was left of his strength to grab his son's arm, wanting to get out one last taunt at his son before death. "I hate you, you know? Everyone else will as well. I mean, who loves someone who kills his own father? Whose father hated him?"

Theodore ripped his arm away with a snarl and responded to the insult, "A lot of people can, actually. You just haven't had the honor of meeting them." Images popped into his head, of him, Daphne, Astoria and Blaise playing exploding snap in the Slytherin common room, ignoring the dirty looks that they were getting from other students, Luna embracing him in the Great Hall and Remus Lupin smiling at him after he healed his wrist.

He aimed his wand at his father and whispered the last spell of that battle, "_Effundum."*_

* * *

><p>In the next hour, everything ended. Everyone had been relieved when Theodore and Colin walked into the Great Hall and Theodore was thrilled to know that each of his friends had saved a life. Remus had congratulated him and his friends on surviving and thanked Theodore again for saving his life.<p>

Then Voldemort came. Harry Potter was pronounced dead, but _honestly_, that didn't mean they had lost! He had asked Theo to come to his side, to avenge the apparent murder of his father, but Theodore had only smirked and replied, "Why would I avenge someone who I killed? That would be rather pointless, don't you think?"

After a large battle, in which Theodore and Remus fought together and rid the world of Fenir Greyback, Molly Weasley killed Bellatrix LeStrange and the Light side overly kicked ass, Harry was revealed to be alive and, after a long, confusing speech, _killed Voldemort!_

Needless to say, everyone was ecstatic. Theo had thanked Harry for ridding the world of that monster and Harry had, in return, thanked his for saving the lives of four people. "After all, if you hadn't stood up for what you believed in, neither would your friends have! If it wasn't for you then Remus, Tonks, Fred and Colin would be dead!"

A few weeks after the battle, Theo found out that Remus and his family were living in an old, run down house full of dark artifacts and promptly invited them to live with him in his manor. They had protested, not wanting to bother him, but Theodore had insisted, explaining that the manor was more of a castle and was far too big for him to live in alone anyway.

That's how things got sorted. Remus, Dora –as she wasn't a Tonks anymore- and Teddy lived with him and Theo often babysat for Teddy when his parents went out. Teddy had taken to using Theodore's eyes more often than not, along with his nose, which had Theodore smiling widely every time he saw the boy.

Him and Luna had started dating and quickly realized that they were perfect for each other. Daphne and Blaise had finally acted on their feeling for each other and often went on double dates with Theo, Luna and- _get this_- Astoria and Draco- as he now insisted to be called. After a few meetings with the former Death Eater, Theo realized that he really had changed from the war and had matured greatly; no longer cracking jokes at others' expense nor seemed to care about blood status.

It was a simpler life now, and Theodore appreciated that.

* * *

><p><span>*-Original Spell index <span>

_Congelasco- _Freezing spell, meaning 'freeze' in Latin.

_Ad Interiora Corporis Extra- _Entrail-Expelling Curse, meaning 'insides to outside of body' in Latin

_A__dhibete __C__orde__- _Summons the victim's heart if the spell hits the body, even a graze. Can bypass shields; must be dodged. Meaning 'summon heart' in Latin.

_Digitos Incendere- _Burns the victim's fingers, making it impossible to grasp a wand in that hand until it heals. Meaning 'burn fingers' in Latin.

_D__espiciat__us— _Permanently blinds the victim. From 'despiciat', meaning 'lose sight' in Latin.

_Effundum—_Causes blood to flow rapidly from all wounds of the victim, insured death within minutes if not treated. From 'effunde', meaning 'pour' in Latin.

If anyone wants to use any of these spells, send me a PM and let me know!

**How was it? My first HP oneshot **_**and**_** my longest chapter ever! I might make a Part Two- nineteen years later, like the HP epilogues, what do you think? Should I?**


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